Research Guides: Statistics & Data for the Social Sciences: A Guide: Quick Access Data

Most Popular Data Sources

This guide is designed to provide easy access to the most commonly access sources of data, as well as to provide tips on how to track down those more specialized or obscure datasets. If you need assistance, a librarian is happy to assist you.

American FactFinder
Access data about the United States, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. Starting in July, data.census.gov will be the primary way to access Census Bureau data, including upcoming releases from the 2018 American Community Survey, 2017 Economic Census, 2020 Census and more. After July 1, 2019, all new data (previously released on American FactFinder) will be released on this new data platform.
Data-Planet Statistical Datasets
Standardized and structured statistical data including key economic indicators. Covers subjects including banking and finance, criminal justice, education, industry and commerce, housing and construction, population and income, stocks and commodities, and more. International data includes China Data Center, International Monetary Fund, imports and exports, international finance statistics, World Bank statistics, and Stats Canada.

Also includes EASI Market Planner with 13 data sets covering consumer behavior, consumer expenditures, consumer price index, consumer spending analytics, demographics, gross domestic product, health, industries, life stages, media, quality of life, and retail sales.

General Social Survey (GSS)
The GSS contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest.

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Many of the core questions have remained unchanged since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies as well as replication of earlier findings. The GSS takes the pulse of America, and is a unique and valuable resource. It has tracked the opinions of Americans over the last four decades.

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
Offers more than 500,000 digital files containing social science research data.
iPoll
iPoll is a finding aid to locate national US public opinion polls. iPOLL contains half a million survey questions and answers asked in the US over the last 65 years by more than 150 survey organizations.
Pew Research Center
Information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank.
World Development Indicators
World Development Indicators Online is a database of statistics from the World Bank’s Data Group. It provides high quality national and international statistics for users worldwide and lets users assess what governments do by accessing reliable data.

Thanks!

Thank you to the following librarians, whose excellent guides provided some of the content here:

Wendy Mann
George Mason University Libraries
Nicole Scholtz
Clark Library, University of Michigan